Introducing - The Technical Support Department
I was asked to write an article for the MVC Newsletter, but I’m not really sure what the subject of this article should be. Is it to inform you that the word shark wasn’t used in movies until Jaws was released in 1975? Should I tell you that technically a duck doesn’t have a mouth; its bill is considered a nose? Do you need to know that in Europe the most common murder weapon is not a knife or a gun, but an ice pick? Probably not, because I’m sure most of you already knew that. So instead, I’m just going to tell you a little bit about Technical Support.
Every time you contact Tech. Support the first thing you probably hear is, “Hang on just a sec; I just have to finish something really quick.” Technical Support doesn’t just sit around waiting for an incoming call. The bulk of our day involves processing reports, performing manual processes and testing system enhancementsIn fact, we have over 60 documented processes that we have to go through each and every day not to mention countless system changes and corrections that need to be reported and tested. Our day is filled with lots and lots of stuff.
A large part of our work involves processing Replacement Usage requests and correcting deposits made with Interval International. With the launch of the MVC Destinations program, we’ve inherited a whole new set of responsibilities. One of the most complicated is verifying any Explorer Collection bookings with our external partners (ICE, Collette, CSA, etc). For every single booking that is made with one of these companies, we have to verify that the reservation details in TSW match the details sent to us from the partner company. And every time one of these partners decides to offer a new option or destination, we are required to update the systems (TSW, Web, etc) to be able to accept those new options.
As most of you may already know, Technical Support also audits all Marriott Vacation Club bookings. And contrary to popular belief, we don’t enjoy sending out queues. In fact, when we notice a particular type of error happen consistently, we’ll get with the training department to either add a note to Daily News or address it in weekly training. Sometimes we’ll inform the Managers and Team Leaders so they can pass the word along to their teams to be on the lookout. The primary reason we send out queues is to educate everyone on the errors we’re finding so they can be avoided in the future.
Owner Services customer facing associates use at least 12 different systems at any given time. A big part of our job is to make sure that any changes to these systems are implemented correctly. This involves hours of conference calls with other offices and weeks worth of testing in order to make sure that the transition is smooth and nothing goes haywire.
The Technical Support department has more than doubled the number of associates in the past four years and we’re still continuing to grow as we add new options within the Destinations ProgramRight now we have five Tech II’s; fifteen Tech I’s; one Supervisor and two Managers. Every time that we add a new partner or option to the Destinations Program we create new processes that may require our team to expand. The Technical Support department is constantly growing and changing, but that’s an aspect of our job that we love.
Also, you should know that when playing Monopoly, it is mathematically impossible to land on both St. James Place and Marvin Gardens if you are the shoe.
Nicholas Daley, Technical Support ManagerLee's Corner
Greeting everyone! I hope this communication finds you well. We have weathered the early-year storm and seem to be progressing nicely in 2012! We started off OSS with a bang – the center is at 95.7% after Period 1!! FANTASTIC!! Nice work everyone!!
Today I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the value of a minute. In a communication earlier this month to Senior Leaders Steve Weisz said, “Becoming a stand alone public company is exciting for all of us, but with this transition comes the responsibility to carefully review our strategies and practices to best position us for long-term successAs a new public company with approximately $1.5B in annual revenues (versus a division of Marriott International with $16B in annual revenues), we are accordingly re-evaluating many of our strategies and processes.”
As you can see from Mr. Weisz’s message, standing on our own is awesome, but we can no longer get lost in the multi-billion dollar Marriott International. We are out there on our own for the entire world to see. This is a great opportunity for us to shine, and puts even more responsibility on each area of the company – and each individual associate – to do everything possible to help the company to be successful. As a center, we have been asked to follow Mr. Weisz’s direction – and do everything we can to be more efficient (get more productivity without increasing costs).
So, how can one individual make a difference? There are, of course, many ways. Today I would like to focus on the value of every minute of your day. I’m going to use an example of how this applies to our phone associates, but if you are not on the phones, think of how it can apply to you in your area – because it can. As part of our WIG, we ask our VPCs, VOAs, and SVOAs to track their AUX time. How does that help us? What does it really matter if you take a 15 minute break or a 16 minute break? It’s only 1 minute right? No big deal if you talk 17 or 18 minutes, right? It’s just a few minutes, so what’s the big deal? Let’s do the math, and I think you’ll see.
We have 5 basic opportunities to make sure we adhere to a schedule (2 breaks, lunch, log in, and log out). In addition, there are at least 4 other AUX buttons (project, meeting, training, manager) that you may be asked to use on any given day. Between the VPC, VOA, and SVOA departments, we have approx. 350 associates – sometimes more. Let’s say every one of these associates decided to take an extra 1 minute on both their breaks and their lunch (3 minutes total for each associate for the day). That adds up to 1050 minutes! Let’s assume the average call lasts around 8 mins. So, put another way, we could have answered over 131 more calls that day, or let another 2-3 more associates go home on downtime. Wow. It adds up quick!
Let’s look at a couple of other examples. I think you’ll be blown away by the results.
- Scenario: 1 minute for each of the 5 main areas. What would that mean?
- Answer: 1750 minutes, 218+ calls, 3-4 associates who didn’t get downtime.
- Scenario: 2 minutes in each of these 5 areas?
- Answer: 3500 minutes, 437+ calls, 7-8 associates who didn’t get downtime.
- Scenario: What about adding the 4 other AUX areas? What if we took just 2 extra minutes in all 9 areas?
- Answer: 6300 minutes, 787+ calls, 13-14 associates who didn’t get downtime.
We could keep going, but hopefully you can see the point. We estimate right now, conservatively I think, that the average associate has between 10-15 minutes a day in these extra AUX minutes when you add it all up. Think what would happen if we dropped this to zero per person. Think of how much quicker we would get to calls. Think about how much happier our owners would be. Think about how much more flexible your schedules would be (downtime, extended lunches, same day vacations, etc.). Imagine the possibilities!
So, this is my challenge to you. Think about the difference you make by paying attention to the little things… like the amount of time you spend on break or lunch – or the amount of time it takes you to get back to the phones after your team meeting or a training session. A minute or two here and there may not seem like too big of a deal to you, but it makes a significant difference to our center, our customers, your fellow associates, and our company’s bottom line. If we all work together by doing this small thing, we can make a HUGE difference together!
Until next time. Thanks for all you do!!
Name the Newsletter
We had a contest to come up with the name for our newsletter and had a lot of great suggestions. We narrowed it down to four finalists; Marriott Vacation Journal, Bearcat Bulletin, Marriott in a Minute, and Planet Marriott. After days of furious voting, the winner (by a substantial margin) is…..Bearcat Bulletin!
The name was submitting by both Jessie Regan and Mike Rosenhan, so they will both receive $5 in Avanti coupons. Thanks to everyone who suggested names, and for all you voters! The new name and design elements will be implemented in the next issue!
